food, reviews and of course coffee
Do you like biscuits?
I do and I don’t.
At this time I have really gone off eating biscuits, especially commercially made biscuits.
When it comes to home made or “crafted” biscuits I am okay, but they are not something I would go out of my way to buy and eat.
Probably just a phase.
The biscuit in the photograph was from the Sky Tower in Auckland in New Zealand. It was rather nice.
I do quite like the idea of a Japanese Bento Box, however here in the UK (outside London) we don’t get many Japanese takeaways.
If you exclude Indian, most Asian takeaways in this country “pretend” to be Chinese takeaways. Serving fast wok fried food in sticky sugary sauces.
This Bento Box was from a Japanese takeaway in New Zealand and was quite nice and very reasonably priced. It makes me wonder why we can’t in this country do something similar. Well actually from experience we can in London, but outside the big cities, no we have to suffer sticky faux-Chinese sauces…
In December 2009 I went to a conference in Auckland in New Zealand. A friend took me out for a meal at a wonderful restaurant. Alas I don’t recall the name or the location…
I went with the mussels.
This was a wonderfully freshly cooked Thai curry with mussels.
It was delicious.
As I have said before when ordering I usually seem to avoid ordering anything that may be too new and go with the familiar, and it was the same with this dish, chargrilled squid and chorizo salad. It was a meal I had in Auckland in New Zealand.
Now unlike many times I have had squid this was made with fresh squid and you certainly could tell the difference.
Yesterday I talked about been more adventurous when I order stuff from a menu.
I like to think I am adventurous when I come to eating out, but more usually than not I will go for something that sounds familiar, or I like. Fish is a prime example where I will go for squid, but unlikely to go for a fish dish.
Well when I ordered the following dish, I was not being adventurous.
This was salt and pepper squid that I had for lunch when I was in Auckland in New Zealand for a conference in December 2009.
However I was to be slightly disappointed in that it was not made using fresh squid (well I don’t think it was).
In December 2009 I went to a conference in Auckland in New Zealand. After the conference I went out for a meal with some friends.
I like to think I am adventurous when I come to eating out, but more usually than not I will go for something that sounds familiar, or I like. Fish is a prime example where I will go for squid, but unlikely to go for a fish dish. Not that I don’t like fish, on the contrary, but I do find I might choose something else…
However this time….
I ordered a grilled piece of fish on noodles (I forgot to note what fish).
It was very nice and I was glad I ordered it.
I try now when eating out, order things I might not usually order…
In December 2009 I went to a conference in Auckland in New Zealand. I was introduced to an excellent cafe by a friend. On a later day I went there for lunch and had some grilled lamp chops.
Take some good lamb chops, marinade and rub them with spices.
Grill.
Serve with salad.
Delicious.
So what is it with the Flat White?
It was never available in this country and now it’s all over the place. First I see Costa sell it and now Starbucks is also selling the Flat White.
So what is the Flat White? According to Wikipedia:
Originating from Australia and New Zealand, a Flat White is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot or double shot of espresso. As with many other espresso-based drinks the Flat White is interpreted in a number of ways. In Australia it is commonly served as a single shot of espresso, whereas in New Zealand it is more commonly served using a double shot.
So it’s popular in Australia and New Zealand, and yes a fair of them have come over to the UK, likewise they are also popular counties to visit. But why the sudden popularity here in the UK of the Flat White?
No idea!
I have had it a few times now in the UK, from Costas and Starbucks and though nice, it’s not quite the same as a Flat White from New Zealand such as this finished one….
In December 2009 I went to a conference in Auckland in New Zealand. I had passed the Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill numerous times on my first few days and really liked the look of the menu. However too often I was eating with friends, or at the conference. I decided on what was my last night in Auckland that I would go and eat there.
Having had a delicious starter of scallops I went for the Grilled Trio for my main course. This was a really interesting dish comprising a trio of grilled fish.
It was like having three separare main courses, which was the reason I chose it as it was difficult to make one choice from the menu.
The three fish were from left to right.
Kingfish, with lemon potato, chorizo and a chermoula butter sauce.
Salmon with spice avocado and salmorejo sauce.
Hapuku served with hummus, pomegranate syrup and crisp onions.
This was a really excellent dish, full of flavour and just the kind of thing I like from a restaurant meal, creativity, flavour and textures.
In December 2009 I went to a conference in Auckland in New Zealand. I had passed the Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill numerous times on my first few days and really liked the look of the menu. However too often I was eating with friends, or at the conference. I decided on what was my last night in Auckland that I would go and eat there.
For my starter I went with the Northland Scallops.
Grilled scallops with a pineapple salsa, skordalia and beurre blanc.
Beautifully cooked and presented scallops. Nice accompaniments. Delicious.